Ohio University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

In 2019, Ohio University introduced the Sustainability Project Laboratory (https://www.ohio.edu/sustainability/reporting/sustainability-project-laboratory) as a database for staff and community-member submitted sustainability-related projects to be used as experiential and co-curricular learning opportunities for professors, graduate students, clubs and classes throughout campus. All projects align with goals in the Ohio University Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, OHIO Common Goals Learning Outcomes (particularly Critical Thinking, Teamwork Skills and Integrative Learning) as well as goals from the OHIO Strategic Framework, such as:

Enhance and increase momentum towards sustainability goals and commitments
Provide additional opportunities for students to engage with faculty and academic programs across campuses as well as with local communities where campuses and centers are located
Embed innovative opportunities for high-impact practices, linked co-curricular experiential learning, and evidence-based pedagogies
Increase applied research to inform the development of vibrant communities, leveraging expertise and scholarly activity that address challenges of our region
Leverage strong undergraduate research activity and the OHIO Honors program to become a national leader in engaged undergraduate research focused on building and enhancing community success

Projects require engagement of stakeholders for data collection and analysis of potential solutions including impacts on the sustainability triple bottom line of people, planet and prosperity. Project teams should recommend solutions and pitch their recommendations to stakeholders at the conclusion of the project. Several projects, such as the Carbon Offset Project, the Green Roof Project, and the Plant-based Burger Taste Testing, were adopted in Spring 2020, but were not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plant Biology classes have authorized use of naturalized areas to collect wildlife samples.

Research and Leadership are woven into each other as research should help build leadership skills of students. PortsFuture is a ten year 5.5 million project to clean up and repurpose 3,777 acres decommissioned uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio.
Coordinated by OHIO, this project involves a wide variety of community groups, private contractors, national labs and government agencies. As part of this project, OHIO professors and students conducted an extensive public education and community dialog process, working with local residents' and business to understand and evaluate options for redevelopment of the site.

Elaine Goetz, Director of the Office, taught a civil engineering course during the 2017-2018 academic year titled, "Sustainable Construction." This course educated students on LEAD certification and students evaluated one campus and one community building, the Athens City Community Center. Their evaluation was provided to Athens City officials in both a presentation and a formal report.

Undergraduate students planned and implement the rain gardens at the on-campus Child Development Center in Athens. Students have led zero waste teams focusing on both the campus side and community side.

Spring Break Food Justice – Students in this program work daily for a week in differing aspects of the food system in the community. They volunteer at community free lunch and dinner events; they pack commodity food boxes at the regional food bank; they resupply the local food pantries; they cook a 30 Mile Meal; and they work in a local school garden. The course requires daily reflection on issues facing Southeastern Ohio.

Appalachia Rising Service Immersion Trip – this 5-day small group service experience will introduce participants to SE Ohio and Appalachian History. Through daily service projects & reflections, students will gain insight into many of the issues facing the region. This trip is designed to promote engagement in the immediate region for students who may not have had many experiences outside of campus. The purpose is to increase understanding of the area outside of OHIO and an appreciation for Appalachian culture. Students will participate in a variety of service projects partnered with local community-based organizations. Possible projects include gardening in community spaces, helping to facilitate the free meals through local initiatives, and Zero Waste initiatives. There is the potential to have one or two projects per day of the trip. Projects will vary on the needs of the communities this program will be serving. Students will participate in one pre-trip orientation meeting for approximately 2 hours. During the trip students will spend four 8-hour days working on sites and learning about the region.

Curriculum ES 6800 is a community-based environmental studies course offered as a graduate-only course. In it, students work on the Children's Discovery Outdoor Learning Museum and work on a variety of topics such as wetland or stream restoration. Theses work is emerging from this process.

Community engagement is built into the first-year courses for both the OHIO Honors Program and the Honors Tutorial College. In HC 2400, the introductory course for OHP, students visit the Athens Farmers Market, learn to use the local public transit system to access portions of the community away from campus, take field trips to sites of acid mine drainage and mitigation efforts, engage with a panel of local business owners, and interact with a representative of a local nonprofit organization. In HC 2500, the introductory course for HTC, students have an eight-week module focused on the local geographic community. The module includes field trips as well as units on regional history and access to technology such as high-speed internet.


Each year, students in Dr. Julia Paxton’s Economics of Altruism class assess, then select a local non-profit as the recipient of $10,000, provided by Warren Buffett’s Learning by Giving Foundation. In assessing each nonprofit, the students consider several criteria: effectiveness, sustainability, impact, and excellence in management.

The Ohio University Ecohouse is a sustainable living laboratory and home available to three undergraduate and/or graduate students each year. Classes, student groups, and community members often tour the house and the home's surrounding features, and the Ecohouse students often participate in public engagement through these tours and through the workshops they conduct for their required seminar course.

OHIO is proud to support local economic and community development agendas through a variety of inclusive recruitment and retention efforts that align with (and extend beyond) federal, state, and local standards. Specifically, recruitment efforts for our entry-level bargaining unit and classified non-bargaining unit positions are typically focused at the local level and, from there, many offer internal professional development opportunities, promotional opportunities, and apprenticeship programs and there are regular recruitment efforts within the surrounding including school visits/presentations and participation in local job fairs.

The Scalia Laboratory for Atmospheric Analysis, part of the Department of Geography at Ohio University, is a student-centered teaching, research, and weather forecasting laboratory. The lab maintains meteorological observations (temperature, humidity, wind speed & direction, solar and terrestrial radiation, air pressure, precipitation, surface temperature, soil temperature, and evapotranspiration / photosynthetically active radiation) on a portion of West Campus that are displayed in near-real time continuously online, and archived for research purposes on weather and climate for all students and faculty at Ohio University. The lab issues weather forecasts from student forecasters 2-3x a day, both online and a public phone hotline, all year round. The lab maintains social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, where the staff of Scalia Laboratory, comprised of both students and faculty, also post about current weather-related watchings, warnings, and advisories, as well as educational material on climate and climate change. Through its partnering student organization, the Ohio University Student Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, the lab also engages students on campus and in the community through weather and climate education and outreach events, such as a family science Saturday in the spring, visits to local schools, and severe weather training for the staff of residence life. The laboratory has also partnered with key personnel in emergency management to certify the Ohio University campus as StormReady, an NWS certification that denotes the entire campus community has a plan to respond when severe or threatening weather is likely to impact campus. We are one of only a few institutions in the state of Ohio to have received this designation. All of these experiences provide real-time living and learning opportunities in the area of air (weather) and climate, and all products and forecasts are available to the campus and surrounding community and widely disseminated.

ET 4950 – a leadership development course in the Russ College of Engineering – uses the Academic and Research Center’s fourth floor (location of the building HVAC and electrical infrastructure) as a learning tool, with a tour of the hardware provided by the lead architect for the building design, Mr. Jim Edwards of Columbus Ohio.

In Civil Engineering 4540, Sustainable Construction, students from various disciplines are given the opportunity to evaluate a building on campus using the LEED v4 O&M rating system. Students learn about sustainable building practices, while the University learns about the sustainability of its existing buildings.

Another, and probably the most obvious, example of Ohio University's efforts to make the campus a living laboratory for buildings is the OHIO Ecohouse. The Ecohouse is the leading example of a residence opportunity at Ohio University that offers students the chance to focus on sustainable behaviors. The mission of the OHIO Ecohouse is to demonstrate affordable green technology and sustainable living in order to inform, engage and inspire both residents and visitors. The OHIO Ecohouse is not just another student home – it is a dynamic education experience which promotes critical thinking and tangible actions toward sustainability. Any student at Ohio University (undergraduate or graduate) who is eligible to live off campus is welcome to apply to live in the house.

Since 2016, the Ohio University Eco-Challenge sustainability competition has been conducted. Teams of students from the College of Business Select Leaders program, the Russ College of Engineering Robe Leadership Institute, and the Cutlers Scholars research local sustainability problems, design solutions, and present their proposals to judges. Winning projects are implemented on campus. Sample Energy-related projects include:

2019 ECOChallenge Energy Projects
Team 1: Bentley Hall Air Curtain
Team 3: Software to Save Energy on Computers
Team 5: Mill Street Light Conversion
Team 6: Replacing UTVs with electric utility vehicles for Grounds
Team 7: LED lighting in Alden Library


2018 ECOChallenge Energy Projects
Team5: Ping Recreation Center LED Conversion
Team 8: Variable Air Volume Fume Hood Control – Winner

2017 ECOChallenge Energy Projects
Team 2: Exterior (walkway) LED light replacement
Team 4: Motion sensing thermostats for Bromley
Team 6: Aquatic Center Lighting replacement
Team 7: Summer closure of Bentley Hall

In 2018-2019, the Initiative for Appalachian Food and Culture, worked with OHIO Culinary Services and local farmers to increase ability for Ohio University to use locally sourced foods. This work is funded by the Sugar Bush Foundation and multiple students are involved. As a result of these collaborative meetings with OHIO and community stakeholders:

● OHIO Culinary Services has committed to purchasing at least $20,000 of seasonal produce from GAP certified producers in the Buckeye Hills Development District region;
● Working group members mapped out the requirements of OHIO Culinary Services, including procurement system, vendor requirements and order tracking, price points, and delivery expectations; members toured the OHIO Central Food Facility to understand capacity;
● Rural Action matched available regional products with seasonal products currently purchased by OHIO Culinary Services, determined price points that are equitable for regional growers, and analyzed volume of regional production through the Chesterhill Produce Auction (CPA);
● Rural Action will continue to work with producers to aggregate wholesale produce at the Chesterhill Produce Auction - and work with growers to increase production according to OHIO interest in regional products and seasonal budget;
● Rural Action will provide training, technical assistance, and connection to third party auditing services for a minimum of 6 regional growers to go through the process of GAP certification - a requirement of OHIO Culinary Services; and
● Subcommittee of the Farm to OHIO Work Group held meetings with the OHIO Office of Procurement in order to identify mechanisms to expand local and regional food purchasing based on statewide budget mandates and procurement requirements; work on this is ongoing and a promising means to scale the capacity of Culinary Services to purchase regionally.

The Culinary Services Development Committee (CSDC) is a student-led group that is also composed of various members of the Culinary Services staff. The committee meets monthly to discuss relevant issues to dining halls. Student feedback through CSDC has recently resulted in the elimination of trays in the dining halls, increased purchase of local food, and the launch of the reusable to-go box pilot program.

The OHIO Student Farm is used for undergraduate classwork and a student-run internship in selling and donating produce. All revenue goes to support summer interns and study away scholarships. The Student Farm donates to the campus food pantry, Cats’ Cupboard and community food security and food access organizations. The Farm is a site for experiential learning for undergraduate students and the location for graduate student research. The Farm is used by students and faculty across campus. Community organizations use it for gardening and wellness workshops. The Farm also has been used as site for student projects for the Center for Entrepreneurship, the College of Health Sciences and Professions and the Patton College. Several student clubs use the Farm for fund raising and club activities. The Farm has recently May 2019 been Good Agricultural Practices certified which has enabled it to sell produce to OHIO’s Culinary Services. The Certification process teaches students about food safety and the regulatory environment governing the sales of fresh produce.

Ohio University utilizes the Ridges Land Lab (200 acres) as a learning laboratory for field observation and research for classes such as Ornithology, Field Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Herpetology, Geography and Campus Recreation (Environmental Interpretation). Specific research projects involved the construction and monitoring of Vernal Pools with the Grounds Department assisting the Aquatic Biology class as well as prairie and soils research projects and field studies with the Environmental and Plant Biology Department. Some highlights of class projects include mapping of the Ridges nature trail system by Environmental Studies Graduate students, in addition to the installation of a grant-funded rain garden.

Several natural planting areas (11) over 4.5 acres have been developed on main campus by the Grounds Department and are being used in Recreation Studies Graduate student projects. Projects involvied mapping and development of species lists. Most of these sites consist of pollinator -friendly plants and in addition, several small butterfly-garden sites have been planted. In late summer 2018 Landscap crew students monitored Monarch butterfly larvae ,collected & protected during incubation until releasing the adults. Students also tracked adult sitings and entered on Monarch tracking website (JourneyNorth).

Trees on main campus are utilized by Geography Department GIS courses, Environmental and Plant Biology Tree and Shrubs identification classes and special tree educational events. College Green Tree on-line Tour developed in 2019 and Ridges Tree Tour is currently in develoopment.
Discovery Museum on-line tours cover a multitude of topics including geology features, nature tours, trees, art etc allowing for self-guided GPS point tours acorss campus & The Ridges .
All Undergraduate and Graduate students, regardless of major, are invited to enroll in ES4832/5832: Sustainability Implementation. The course is facilitated by the Office of Sustainability staff and aims to teach students about activism for the 21st Century by utilizing the campus as a living laboratory. Each student is presented with a procedural or infrastructure problem faced on campus and asked to solve the problem using sustainability problem solving. Additional members of the campus community are involved as appropriate. Projects span all aspects of sustainability, relating to food, transportation, buildings, energy, technology, waste, climate change, grounds, procurement, water, sustainability planning, engagement, diversity, health/well-being and investment. ES4832/5832 is offered every Fall and Spring semester. Additionally, a similar sustainability-project structure is supplied to the Sustainable Marketing (MKT4900) class taught by Dr. Colin Gabler, which is offered every Spring semester.

mAppAthens is a service offered by the Grounds section of the Office of Sustainability. It includes a variety of tours ranging from a Tree Tour of common trees on campus to a Women's History Tour that focuses on important women in Ohio University's past. All tours are self-paced and available online at https://www.ohio.edu/museum-complex/mappathens.

Ohio University Zero Waste Initiative students and staff work with Procurement & Contract Services on their annual Supplier Fair. The team advises on green event guidelines such as limiting energy and water intensive activities, reducing single use items and properly managing waste, utilizing online marketing instead of paper marketing, etc., thus educating suppliers and consumers alike about sustainable procurement practices. The Zero Waste team works with the Office of Sustainability to provide a similar consultation and education process for other units on campus that purchase large quantities such as Catering, Event Services, the Athletic Department, Orientation, Greek Life, Student Senate, and others.

The Zero Waste Initiative students and staff have been exploring implementation of the Kimberly-Clark RightCycle glove recycling program. We are currently working to educate units on campus about this procurement option, and determine if the pilot, as a triple-bottom line initiative, is feasible. In addition, the ZW team has spearheaded a food waste diversion project to explore diverting pre-consumer food waste from our compost facility instead to local farmers. An RFI has been drafted by our ZW team for Procurement’s review.

During the 2020-21 academic year, the CCCE, Office of Sustainability, and the Finance Division are working collaboratively to update purchase and procurement policies and practices to improve systems and further support regional economic priorities and clarify purchase options that support a triple-bottom line approach. Updates to these policies and practices are to be complete before the start of the 2021-22 fiscal year.

OHIO Culinary Services utilizes local produce, meats, and baked goods in its dining halls and restaurants. Each year, Culinary Services spends in excess of $1.4 million annually on local food. It abides by the standards and initiatives set by the Office of Sustainability in order to reduce the local ecological footprint of OHIO. Student assist in tracking and reporting this information.

Ohio University works collaboratively with student governance and campus stakeholders on projects aimed at promoting and encouraging transit use on campus. This ongoing work includes integration of awareness campaigns and assisting with development of recommendations for transit system efficiencies and active transportation opportunities. The continued collaboration allows for student input on ways to align campus resources to help support user travel patterns and address the evolving transit needs of the campus community. Beginning in 2019, TPS has partnered with campus orientation programming to offer transit accommodations to incoming students and guests to acclimate users to available resources and help promote opportunities for reduction of single occupancy vehicle use across campus.

All undergraduate and Graduate students, regardless of major, are invited to enroll in ES4832/5832: Sustainability Implementation. The course is facilitated by the Office of Sustainability staff and aims to teach students about activism for the 21st Century by utilizing the campus as a living laboratory. Each student is presented with a procedural or infrastructure problem faced on campus and asked to solve the problem using sustainability problem solving. Additional members of the campus community are involved as appropriate. Projects span all aspects of sustainability, relating to food, transportation, buildings, energy, technology, waste, climate change, grounds, procurement, water, sustainability planning, engagement, diversity, health/well-being and investment. ES4832/5832 is offered every Fall and Spring semester. Additionally, a similar sustainability-project structure is supplied to the Sustainable Marketing (MKT4900) class taught by Dr. Colin Gabler, which is offered every Spring semester.

Through a multiyear grant project, the OHIO Zero Waste Initiative at the Voinovich School has worked with Campus Recycling, the Office of Sustainability, and numerous other units on campus to reduce the waste footprint of the University in a variety of ways. For example, the Student Zero Waste Coordinator created the Ohio University Green Event Guide. By means of a checklist, the guide helps student organizations, colleges, departments, and individuals identify the components of their event that can be made sustainable by decreasing waste and increasing diversion efforts. Participants can meet with a Zero Waste Coordinator prior to their event to officially receive recognition for hosting a "Certified Green Event." The Green Event Guide can be found here: http://www.ohio.edu/zerowaste. Zero waste efforts on campus have also included waste messaging at orientation and commencement programming, athletic events, move out, student group activities, etc. Our students and staff regularly work to incorporate real-world learning into courses across campus to advance sustainability and waste awareness.

Compost initiatives at Ohio University are also an example of how the university is a living laboratory for waste minimization. Ohio University is home to the largest in-vessel compost facility at any college or university in the nation. The facility is situated on several acres of land and, therefore, is the perfect location for students and research faculty to conduct waste-related research, like Dr. Sarah Davis. Historically, experiments and Ph.D research relating to biodegradable materials have also been hosted on-site. Post-consumer food waste collection takes place at all dining halls and select academic buildings. Food Waste reduction and composting education campaigns are highlighted througout the year.

In 2018, Ohio University Culinary Services received the Ohio EPA E3 Platinum Award for its recycling, composting, and reusable container programs. Students have participated in many aspects of these programs, from weighing food waste in the dining halls, to acting as bin goalies, to designing new waste bins.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from abandoned coal mines affects the quality of both ground water and surface water in the region of southeast Ohio, where Ohio University is located. Faculty and students of the Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment, which is housed within the Ohio University Russ College of Engineering and Technology, are currently studying promising solutions for AMD remediation. Many different sustainable treatment strategies have been investigated, such as use of waste materials (steel slag, compost), use of microorganisms, and use of natural and local materials to raise pH and precipitate iron oxides. Work with AMD is also interdisciplinary at Ohio University; a professor of painting and drawing is extracting the compounds found in AMD and utilizing them for use in paint and artworks.

A green roof is being installed on Ohio University's Schoonover Center. Other green infrastructure exists on our campus, but this roof is specifically designed to support applied student learning and research. Students will collect and analyze data on water runoff and quality on the green roof itself. Students from varied disciplines have been teaching local K-12 school children and community members about green roofs for the past two years using simple models they designed to compare vegetated and traditional rooftops. These illustrate improved water retention and water quality on green roofs. Education majors have developed lesson plans to be used with stand-around models designed by Engineering majors that are being donated to schools. Students in Fine Arts and Communications have also created artistic, news, and educational pieces describing the benefits of green roofs. The Schoonover green roof installation was delayed due to COVID-19 but is now scheduled to be completed by July 3.

Ohio University has a Executive level Sustainability Committee, chaired by the Provost, the Vice President of Finance and Administration, and the Vice President for Student Affairs, that has 2 undergraduates and 1 graduate student as members. The committee is charged to "review, analyze, prioritize and make recommendations on...The Ohio University Sustainability and Climate Action Plans and revisions processes.. New or revised policies and practices concerning the sustainability themes of climate, water, energy, solid waste, food, grounds, buildings, transportation, procurement, investments, student life, and human resources" among other charges.

The Ohio University Sustainability Project Laboratory has a currently active project on creating carbon offsets through tree plantings on campus. This project, suggested and spearheaded by a graduate student, Nina Adjanin, involves advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination and Planning.

Please see the many examples of diversity & inclusion utilizing campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning in the Diversity and Inclusion report (https://www.ohio.edu/diversity/upload/D-I_Report_12-1-PDF.pdf). Examples include SpeakOUt panels for education about gender identity and sexual orientation; National Heritage Month programs; and LINKS, a year-long transition, enrichment and support program for students from diverse backgrounds.

All undergraduate and Graduate students, regardless of major, are invited to enroll in ES4832/5832: Sustainability Implementation. The course is facilitated by the Office of Sustainability staff and aims to teach students about activism for the 21st Century by utilizing the campus as a living laboratory. Each student is presented with a procedural or infrastructure problem faced on campus and asked to solve the problem using sustainability problem solving. Additional members of the campus community are involved as appropriate. Projects span all aspects of sustainability, relating to food, transportation, buildings, energy, technology, waste, climate change, grounds, procurement, water, sustainability planning, engagement, diversity, health/well-being and investment. ES4832/5832 is offered every Fall and Spring semester. Additionally, a similar sustainability-project structure is supplied to the Sustainable Marketing (MKT4900) class taught by Dr. Colin Gabler, which is offered every Spring semester.

Two student organizations, the Student Equity Management Group (SEMG) and the Fixed Income Management Group (FIMG), invest several million dollars in University general funds using sustainable investment guidelines. The investment guidelines help the student groups incorporate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) analysis into their investment decision-making. Both student groups report through their advisor to the division of Finance.

WellWorks, an initiative of the College of Health Sciences and Professions, offers a wide range of student learning in its wellness center, where students engage with community wellbeing, employee wellness programming, and community outreach. Annually, WellWorks' professional staff mentors over 100 students in paid positions, service learning opportunities, and academic experiences. Students can interact with a variety of experiences in fitness, nutrition, wellness, clinical, administration, and marketing through hands-on application of classroom knowledge. WellWorks utilizes the dimensions of wellbeing in their work with students, which offers natural conversations about the importance of sustainability in the wellbeig industry.

Information for the Campus Engagement section provided by Dave Bayless, Professor of Mechanical Engineering on 5/27/2020; Waste section provided by Andrew Ladd, Recycling and Zero Waste Manger on 4/7/2020; the Food & Dining and Public Engagement section by Mary Nelly, Director, Campus and Community Engagement on 3/23/2020, Food & Dining OHIO Student Farms provided by Theresa Moran, Director, Food Studies on 5/24/2020; the Air & Climate section by Ryan Fogt, Director, Scalia Laboratories and Professor, Geography, on 5/14/2020; the Transportation section by Tia Hysell, Director, Transportation & Parking, on 3/16/2020; the Wellbeing & Work section by Annie Laurie Cadmus, WellWorks Engagement & Marketing Coordinator and Jenn Bennett, Director, WellWorks, on 2/28/2020; the Purchasing section by Elissa Welch, Project Manager, Energy and Environmental Projects, on 6/8/2020; the Buildings (Ecohouse) section by Dave Bayless, Professor of Mechanical Engineering on 5/27/2020; Energy section by Dave Bayless, Professor of Mechanical Engineering on 5/27/2020; the Grounds section by Susan Calhoun on 5/7/2020, Diversity and Affordability section by Kathy Fahl on 6/8/2020; the Coordination & Planning, Water (AMD) and Investments sections by Elaine Goetz, Director of Energy Management & Sustainability, on 6/15/20; Water (green roof) section by Kim Thomposon, Plant Biology faculty on 6/16/20.

Input by Sydney Hutchinson and Elaine Goetz on various dates